Consumer perceptions raised by the food safety inspection report: Does the smiley communicate a food safety risk?

The publication of inspection grades at food establishments has been introduced as a way to inform consumers about restaurants' food safety levels. This two-part study explored consumers' perceptions and behavioural intentions raised by the Finnish food safety inspection report Oiva. The first part of the study explored university students' (n = 98) spontaneous perceptions raised by the inspection grade, communicated with a smiley face. Perceptions related to food safety risk and one's own behaviour were most frequent. In the second part, these perceptions were used in testing the full food safety inspection report on a nationally representative sample of the 18–65 years old Finnish population (n = 1513) with a survey-experiment approach. Binary logistic and linear regressions revealed that lower inspection grades were directly associated with increased perceived food safety risk and a behavioural intention not to eat at the restaurant when the effect of perceived food safety risk was taken into account. Information about the risk type moderated the effect of lower inspection grades on perceived risk and behavioural intention. These results underline the importance of providing additional information to consumers about the type of food safety risk.Peer reviewe

Food business operators' opinions on disclosed food safety inspections and occurrence of disagreements with inspector grading

Disclosure systems for official food safety inspection results have been introduced in many countries including Finland in order to increase compliance of food business operators (FBOs). Although the disclosure systems are intended to affect FBOs, few studies have been published on FBOs' experiences of these systems. To investigate FBOs' opinions of disclosed food safety inspections in Finland, a questionnaire was distributed in 2016. The questionnaire study also aimed to recognize factors affecting compliance and disagreements about gradings with a special focus on FBOs' risk perception. In total 1277 responses from FBOs in retail (n = 523), service (n = 507) and industry (n = 247) sectors revealed that the majority of FBOs perceived the disclosure to promote correction of non-compliance. However, many FBOs disagreed with the grading of inspection findings. Most common topics of disagreements were maintenance of premises, record-keeping of own-check plan and adequacy and suitability of premises for operations. Logistic regression analysis showed that the likelihood of occurrence of disagreements with grading was higher among those retail and service FBOs with a lower risk perception. Similarly, the occurrence of non-compliance was associated with FBOs' risk perception in all sectors. Thus, FBOs need proper guidance on food safety risks. These results can be used to improve the efficacy of disclosed food safety inspections.Peer reviewe

Effects of grade, smiley, and text on Danish and Finnish consumers’ perceptions of food safety inspection reports

Publicly accessible food safety inspection reports are a standard procedure to inform consumers on restaurants' food safety levels in many countries. This study examined how different formats of food safety inspection report are associated with consumer perceptions related to food safety, as well as other perceptions about the restaurant. The study was conducted in Denmark and Finland with similar inspection grade systems but differences in the distribution of awarded grades. We conducted a population-based survey experiment with a between-subjects design on nationally representative samples of the 18-70 years old Danish (n = 978) and Finnish (n = 907) populations. Respondents received one of six food safety inspection reports with different combinations of inspection grade with a smiley and/or text. According to the results, both Danish and Finnish consumers' food safety perceptions of the same grade were more positive when the report included a smiley, and more negative when the report included a text. Finnish respondents perceived a good food safety inspection grade more positively than Danish respondents but there were no country differences when the grade was poor. In addition, food safety inspection results elicited perceptions that were not related to food safety in both countries. The results suggest that if the grade is poor, the inclusion of text is effective in eliciting perceptions of increased food safety risk. If the grade is good, a standalone smiley may be most effective in eliciting positive perceptions of a high food safety level. Moreover, these results indicate the importance of carefully evaluating how to develop public accessible inspection grades to ensure they are correctly interpreted by consumers in different countries.Peer reviewe

24-tunnin ruoankäyttöhaastattelututkimuksen soveltaminen mikrobiologiseen riskinarviointiin

Lisensiaatin tutkielman tavoitteena oli kehittää 24-tunnin ruoankäyttöhaastattelumenetelmä soveltumaan mikrobiologisessa riskinarvioinnissa hyödynnettävien altistumistietojen keräämiseen. Tutkielman osana tehtiin Eviran riskinarvioinnin tutkimusyksikössä myös 19 haastateltavan pilottitutkimus, jonka avulla kehitetyn menetelmän toimivuutta arvioitiin. Tutkimus on osa Elintarviketurvallisuusviraston ja Helsingin yliopiston Altistus kemiallisille ja mikrobiologisille elintarvikevaaroille eli BIKE-projektia, jossa kehitetään menetelmää kemiallisten ja mikrobiologisten riskien arviontiin. Mikrobiologista riskinarviointia tarvitaan, jotta elintarvikkeisiin liittyviä suosituksia ja lainsäädäntöä laadittessa voidaan huomioida mikrobiologiset riskit terveydelle. Mikrobiologisen riskinarvioinnin tulee olla mahdollisimman laadukasta, jotta suosituksia ja lainsäädäntöä laadittaessa olisi käytettävissä mahdollisimman luotettavaa ja tarkkaa tietoa. Epävarmuutta mikrobiologisessa riskinarvioinnissa ovat lisänneet etenkin kuluttajavaiheen osalta puutteelliset tiedot sellaisista käsittelyistä, joilla on vaikutuksia kulutettavan elintarvikkeen mikrobiologiseen tilaan ja siten myös kuluttajan altistumiselle mikrobiologisille vaaroille. Kuluttajien elintarvikkeiden käsittelyä on tutkittu aikaisemmin kysely- ja tarkkailumenetelmien avulla. Tutkimustieto kuluttajien elintarvikkeiden käsittelyä koskien on kuitenkin osittain huonosti riskinarviointiin soveltuvaa, sillä tietoja on vain vähäisessä määrin saatavilla elintarvikekohtaisesti ja vielä vähemmän juuri Suomen tilannetta koskien. Sovelletun 24-tunnin haastattelumenetelmän avulla saadaan kerättyä tietoja sekä kuluttajavaiheen käsittelyiden vaikutuksista elintarvikkeen mikrobiologiseen tilaan elintarvikekohtaisesti, että tiedot nautitun elintarvikkeen määrästä. Kumpaakin edellä mainittua tietoa tarvitaan altistumisen arvioinnissa, joka on riskinarvioinnin ja siten myös riskianalyysin keskeinen osa. Altistumisen arvioinnissa tarvittavan ruoankäyttötiedon keräämiseen muun muassa EFSA suosittelee käyttämään 24 -tunnin haastattelumenetelmää. Hypoteesina oli 24 tunnin haastattelumenetelmän hyvä soveltuminen mikrobiologisessa riskinarvioinnissa tarvittavien altistumistietojen keräämiseen. 24-tunnin haastattelumenetelmän kehittäminen mikrobiologisten riskien arvioinnin mahdollistamiseksi aloitettiin alkukeväällä 2016 ja kehitetty menetelmä pilotoitiin keväällä 2016. Mikrobiologiseen riskinarviointiin tarvittavien keskeisimpien tietojen keräämiseksi valikoidut kysymykset järjestettiin vuokaavioihin haastattelun järjestelmällisen kulun helpottamiseksi. Haastatteluihin haastattelijana toiminut lisensiaatin tutkielman tekijä valmistautui perehtymällä 24-tunnin haastattelumenetelmään teoreettisesti ja käytännössä. Haastattelut suoritettiin yhdessä kirjaajan kanssa noin kuukauden aikana. Haastateltavana pilottitutkimuksessa oli yhteensä 19 Eviran työntekijää. Menetelmän avulla saatiin kohtuullisessa ajassa (keskimäärin 51 minuuttia) kerättyä hyvin tarkkaa tietoa kuluttajien tavoista käsitellä elintarvikkeita. 24-tunnin haastattelumenetelmää voidaan käyttää mikrobiologisessa riskinarvioinnissa altistumistietojen hankkimiseen, mutta menetelmän käyttämiseen liittyy haasteita pääasiassa sen vaatimien haastattelijaresurssien takia. Kehitetyn menetelmän soveltaminen riskinarvioinnissa on jo aloitettu ja sitä tullaan kehittämään edelleen

Efficacy of disclosed food safety inspections in restaurants

Noncompliances that decrease food safety are commonly detected in food safety inspections at restaurants, and challenges in correcting the noncompliances have been reported. Disclosure of inspection results has been used as a tool to decrease the rate of noncompliances by increasing motivation to attain and maintain compliance with regulations. However, the efficacy of disclosed inspection results is not well understood. In addition, preannouncement of the inspection and inspection interval may have an impact on the efficacy of inspections. In this longitudinal retrospective study based on disclosed restaurant inspections in Finland from the years 2017-2018, we examined the stability of compliance, correction of noncompliances at the item level, association of preannouncement with item-specific grades and association of inspection interval with compliance. The results show that compliance (inspection result Excellent) was maintained between two consecutive inspections in 60.5% of the restaurants. The inspection result To be corrected (C) improved in 72.3% and Poor (D) in 33.3% of the restaurants to an Excellent (A) or Good (B) result. Still, some noncompliances in items crucial to food safety were not corrected. This demonstrates that disclosure alone is not sufficient; other measures are also needed in food control. The inspection interval did not reveal any significant association with the stability of compliance. The proportions of C and D grades were at minimum twofold in unannounced compared to preannounced inspections in most inspected items. Unannounced inspections are therefore necessary to receive an accurate impression of the inspected items on the premises.Peer reviewe

The perceived openness to interpretation of food inspection grading associates with disagreements between inspectors and food business operators

In many countries, food safety inspection disclosure systems have been implemented in order to improve food control. However, criticism has also been levelled at these systems, especially regarding grading. Moreover, only a few studies have focused on inspectors, despite the fact that they are responsible, in practice, for applying the disclosure system and grading. To investigate inspectors' perceptions of disclosure, disagreements experienced with food business operators (FBOs) over grading and the factors possibly related to such disagreements, we conducted a questionnaire-based study with Finnish inspectors in 2017. We received 148 answers from 52 out of 62 Finnish local food control units. Most inspectors (90.8%, N = 131) considered that Oiva, the disclosure system introduced in 2013, was at least a somewhat positive change, and almost all inspectors (95.1%, N = 143) considered that disclosure enhanced, at least to some degree, the correction of non-compliances. In general, inspectors had experienced a small number of disagreements over grading with FBOs, but, in relation to some topics, over 20% of inspectors had encountered a high number of disagreements. In our multiple linear regression model, disagreements over grading were associated with the perceived openness to interpretation of grading (B = 0.37, p < 0.001) and differences experienced in risk perception between inspectors and FBOs (B = 0.12, p = 0.001). Most inspectors (67.4%; N = 144) preferred the grading guidelines to contain a small amount of openness to interpretation. Inspectors supported disclosure and considered that the Oiva system had improved food control. However, especially related to grading topics where inspectors perceived the greatest degree of openness to interpretation and the largest number of disagreements over grading with FBOs, inspectors should be further trained and supported. In addition, this study highlights the need for improved consistency in grading especially between the food control units.Peer reviewe

Disclosed restaurant inspection results on food safety show regional and local differences in Finland

The consistency of inspections is an important requirement of official food control. Inconsistency may endanger food safety and lead to mistrust in official food control. The reasons leading to inconsistency and the mitigation of inconsistency are therefore important. Here we investigated the distribution of restaurant (n = 4989) in-spection grades from 2014 in Finland to elucidate reasons for possible differences in grades. The analyses revealed both regional and local differences in the overall grades. In addition, the distribution of the own-check sections' grades between local food control units revealed a large variation, indicating inconsistent assessments of inspection findings. The inspector resources in the local food control units did not explain the discrepancies. However, we found that differences in grades are to a certain extent explained by factors related to the economic status and urbanization of the area. The effects of socioeconomic factors appear moderate, and the differences in the inspectors' evaluations of compliance remain an important issue that should be addressed on a national level through inspector training.Peer reviewe

Nyt otetaan Oivasta mittaa - tutkimus Oiva-valvonnasta

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